Pique – Puerto Rican Hot Sauce

This Puerto Rican hot sauce recipe, called Pique, is a national staple, with a different version for every household.

Pique is an interesting hot sauce. You’ll find it in Puerto Rico – it’s a national staple there, with a different version practically for every household. It is one of those hot sauce recipes that defies any specific recipe because it can vary quite a bit. Many of the ingredients come down to personal preference of the household serving it up.

It is not a blended hot sauce.

What is Pique?

At its most basic, Pique is a number of ingredients floating in vinegar. Those ingredients, in particular, chili peppers, infuse the vinegar with heat and flavor, which you can use to dash over anything you desire.

I’ve seen versions with or without lime juice, splashes of rum, culantro leaves, sugar, onion, pineapple chunks or other fruit, peppercorns. So many possible ingredients.

The traditional chili pepper used is the Aji Caballero. You basically chop up the larger ingredients, drop them all into a container, and cover it with your vinegar and other liquids, then let it sit anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks.

The vinegar solution will infuse and you’re good to go. Store it in the fridge if you’d like.

My particular version here incorporates a variety of 7-Pots, Aji Pineapples, and some Moranga Reds, which are a hybrid grown in my garden this year. I have some excellent heat from the 7-Pots and Morangas, and some nice sweet flavor from the ajis. I like this particular version as it helpls to preserve my peppers.

We had such a huge harvest this year – YES! YES! – that preserving them is the best way to go. And isn’t it nice to have a good hot sauce on hand for pretty much anything?

Enjoy, and feel free to mix up the recipe with fun new ingredients!

How Do You Serve Puerto Rican Pique?

Pique hot sauce is meant to be splashed over pretty much any of the foods you are serving. Drizzle some over grilled meats or into soups or stews.

Splash a little onto your sandwich meat, or over fresh or cooked vegetables, basically anywhere you’d like a bit of zing.

Frequently Asked Hot Sauce Questions

Here are answers to some of the most common questions I get on other sauces:

How long will this sauce keep?

It should keep a few months easily in the fridge, or even longer. It’s all about the acidity. To be technical, target level ph for shelf stable foods is below 4.6 ph, but should probably be lower for home cooks, around 4.0 or so, to account for errors. If you’re concerned, add more vinegar to lower the ph. Sauces made with fermented chili peppers will last even longer.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE

5 comments

I love Pique Sauce. I had not had any since we moved here from San Juan. My dad used to make it all the time. I recently just found Don Ricardo Pique Sauce at my local Bravo Supermarket here in Orlando. Wow, it is amazing. Taste like Puerto Rico in a bottle!

REPLY: I love this stuff, Linda. So cool that you got to grow up with it. Delish! — Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.

I just made a jar last night. Overnight, the peppers floated to the top, and are partially exposed above the vinegar, any concerns?
I notice in your picture it looks the same. Do the peppers need to be submerged, especially early on?
thanks for the article and any advice!

REPLY: Nibblicious,, as long as the peppers are beneath the liquid, you are fine. Give it a shake every now and then. — Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.

I’m curious about the shelf life for this vinegar. Does it need to be sterilized first, and if so, what jars/bottles are appropriate to do so? Also, does it need to be refrigerated, and how long will it last? Thanks!

REPLY: Kim, the vinegar acts as a preservative so you can keep it out a long time, even refilling it with more vinegar and other ingredients as you use it. You can choose to refrigerate it or not. I personally probably wouldn’t keep it more than a few months, but it wouldn’t last that long anyway. — Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.

Reply

WELCOME!

Hi, Everyone! I'm Mike, your chilihead friend who LOVES good food. I love it spicy, and hopefully you do, too. Here you'll find hundreds of spicy recipes of all levels, some with a little, some with a LOT, but everything is adjustable to your personal tastes. You'll also learn a lot about chili peppers and seasonings, my very favorite things.